Let's face it. In today's market, buyer's usually try to control most of the real estate transaction. And appraisals are now a trouble spot too. How many times do you read here at Active Rain of low appraisals coming in and blowing a transaction?!
Call me a control freak,but one of the simplest ways a listing agent can take some control of a transaction is by removing the keybox once the house is under contract. Usually, I pull the keybox immediately when that happens. And here's why...
1. Our Oklahoma contract provides that the property is to be delivered to the buyer upon closing in "like condition" as when it went under contract. That means that once we are under contract, it is time to stop the traffic flow through the house. What if another Real Estate person is showing the property and their client damages something in the house. You might never be able to track down the damage to that person. Or the Real Estate professional might not have seen their buyer DO the damage. Even worse, getting them to admit their client did the damage can be a nightmare. So, once under contract, pull the keybox and stop anyone else from entering the home.
2. I plan to be present during the buyer's inspections. I am my seller's eyes and ears. It is my job to listen in and prepare my seller for what is found. When I hold the key, inspections are clearly scheduled through me. Sure, I will work with the buyers' time frame, but nobody gets into the house unless I am there with the key. This includes inspectors.
3. And the same goes for the appraiser too. Here in our area, we are not allowed to call an appraiser AFTER the appraisal is done. But the rules don't say that we can't meet the appraiser at the property prior to the appraisal being done. Now let me be clear here. I don't barge in with comps in hand and say, "Okay Mr. or Mrs. Appraiser, we're gonna talk about these comps here!" That wouldn't be cool and I wouldn't want that done to me. And I'm pretty sure that isn't really ethical either. Instead, I show up, open the door for them, ask them if they have any questions or if they'd like to see the comps the pricing was based on and then let them do their thing. I've never met an appraiser yet that I didn't have a nice conversation with.
One last reason I pull the keybox is because it gives my sellers a sense of security. Knowing that there will be no other showings and that no one else has access to the home takes stress off of the seller. They always appreciate it when I explain why the keybox is being removed.
So if you don't pull the keybox once you're in contract, you might reconsider. It is a great way to control access to the house and to make sure you know what is happening at the property all they way through to the closing table.
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